In Extremis
Contents Release ---- Release date for the game In Extremis; ---- 1993 Plot ---- In Extremis is a science-fiction first person shooter in which you play as a crashed space pilot stranded aboard a derelict vessel. To escape, you must collect key cards and insert them into terminals. Valid cards will give you a code for the current level. That code will grant you access to lockers containing weapons and equipment. A second set of key cards opens up elevators, allowing you to travel to deeper into the ship's 29 levels. Technically, the game is similar to graphical updates of the Wolfenstein 3-D engine (such as used in the Blake Stone series), and features textured walls along with optional floor and ceiling textures. Faked lighting effects (your screen shifts to a different colour as you pass under coloured lights) also appear. Architecture is still limited to 90 degree angles and heavy on mazes. Gameplay ---- You mission is to find new weapons and kill aliens, you have a limited inventory of pickups to manage. Your suit's air tanks are constantly depleting, and must be replaced with fresh tanks before they run dry. Your suit contains a motion tracker and nightvision, both which drain the same replaceable batteries. Syringes can be collected and used to restore your health. Finally, alien nests appear on some levels and endlessly spawn new enemies. Bombs can be collected and deployed to destroy these. Game modes ---- You can play in the following modes; Normal Gameplay modes ---- Singleplayer local co-op for two players Characters ---- Pilot Features ---- Aliens Maps ---- 29 levels on a derelict vessel Weapons ---- pistol photon blaster machine gun Equipment ---- nightvision terminals spacesuit motion tracker batteries syringes key codes Enemies ---- Aliens Vehicles ---- Publishers ---- U.S. Gold was a British computer and video game publisher and developer from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, producing numerous titles on a variety of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit platforms. U.S. Gold was founded in Birmingham in 1984 by Geoff Brown as the publishing division of Centresoft. The publisher continued to expand their operation well into the 1990s. However, a number of their licensing deals, particularly one with LucasArts, fell through, threatening to affect their income. In order to help consolidate their finances, they joined forces with UK software distributor CentreSoft to form the CentreGold Plc Group. Internal game development studios owned by U.S. Gold were the internally formed Silicon Dreams and acquired Core Design. The group was acquired by Eidos Interactive in April 1996. Eidos sold off CentreSoft and maintained Core Design as a developer but decided to discontinue the U.S. Gold brand. Silicon Dreams was sold back to U.S. Gold founder Geoff Brown and became the keystone for his new development venture Geoff Brown Holdings (GBH). Developers ---- Blue Sphere (France) was a French development company active between 1993 and 2001. Members of the development team appear to have worked together at Microïds prior to starting the company. Four games are known to have been created by this studio: In Extremis (1993), GT Racing 97 (1997), Taxi 2 (2000) and Het Labyrint van Toetanchamon (2002, but likely a re-release). Around 2000 the company had another racing game in development, Mad Racers, but it does not appear to have been released. In 2000 Blue Sphere started developing Java games for the internet with releases such as Wing War, Dory, Survivor 2100, Dames and Solitaire. The company's website was last updated in November 2001 and eventually vanished in 2005. Awards ---- Releases ---- Version: 1.0 Reception ---- References Citations In Extremis Footnotes category:video games